As far as political columnists go, Jonah Goldberg is a good read. I regularly enjoy his commentary, style and wit. For those of us who aren’t policy wonks or constitutional junkies, Goldberg places keen insight on the lower shelf well within our reach. Today Goldberg commented on the hubbub surrounding Robert Jeffress and Governor Rick Perry. Jeffress, pastor of historic First Baptist Church in Dallas, introduced (and tacitly endorsed) Governor […]
Lebron James (a.k.a. King James) has caused no small stir the world of professional basketball. In what resembled a celebrity divorce, he shook the Cleveland dust off his feet only to wiggle them in the white sands of South Beach. Cleveland got stood up at the altar while Lebron parades around town with his new girlfriend(s). The Heat are in first place and the Cavaliers are dead last. Despite the […]
Philip Bliss gave the church a treasure when he wrote the hymn “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” (1875). There is no sweeter foretaste of heaven to hear your church belting out: Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was he; Full atonement! can it be? Hallelujah! what a Savior What is it about full atonement that Bliss (and we) would wonder if it could be? What about full […]
“Is Christ the mirror in which you see your election? Do you believe in Christ as your only hope for salvation? Do you see beauty in Christ, finding Him to be the altogether lovely one? Do you desire Christ for His own sake, not merely for the sake of benefits, such as heaven? Oh, then you have Him and the seal of His election. You are the elect of God, […]
In the latest Touchstone Magazine Daniel Boerman wrote a sweet article entitled “When the Wood is Dry.” The following excerpt was most edifying: There is . . . a gospel for sufferers. Jesus not only suffered in our place; he also suffered as an example for us to follow. He warns us that obedience in a sinful and fallen world will not be easy. The world does not appreciate or […]
It is God who takes the initiative in reconciling us to him, not Christ who take the initiative in persuading his reluctant Father to relent. The cross occurred because God is a God of grace, not to make him a God of grace (Derek Tidball, The Message of the Cross, p223). Jesus did not convince the Father to love us. Jesus convinced us the Father loves us. God was not […]
God has granted of late several soul-enlarging conversations with my dad. It’s relatively uncommon that sons can pore over Scripture either with their dads or 83-year-old men, much less a combination of the two. But in God’s inestimable grace and wise providence I’ve enjoyed this undeserved gift. Several days ago we wandered into the deep end (which Paul would say is the kiddie pool of the Gospel) to discuss the […]
I love godly widows who have read rich theological books and pass them on to their ignorant and immature pastors. I often wonder who exactly is pastoring whom! A latest offering is Horatius Bonar’s The Everlasting Righteousness, from which we enjoy this: Man has always treated sin as a misfortune, not a crime; as disease, not guilt; as a case for the physician, not for the judge. Herein lies the […]
I can’t put this down. Gerhard Forde’s interaction with Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation is now one of my must-reads for preparing men for eldership. Read Calvin’s Institutes first and then this. Most modern church “leadership” books seek to empower men for ministry. Luther (and Forde) seek to kill them for it. Dead men make better gospel preachers. Thesis 22 of the Disputation reads, “That wisdom which perceives the invisible things of […]
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous (Rom 5.19). The type/antitype relationship between Adam and Jesus in Romans 5 is a theological gold mine. In a sense, we can simplify all men down to this relationship. We are sons of Adam until we are sons of Christ. We are old men […]